WEBVTT 1 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:26.900 Hello and welcome to Word and Work an Intersection. 2 00:00:26.900 --> 00:00:28.800 I'm your host Dale Meyer. 3 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.200 Once again, we come to you virtually. Today 4 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:36.200 our guest is Reverend Michael Coppersmith. 5 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:41.500 He's been leading the Seminary group known as Prayer Warriors for 6 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:45.400 several years now. And our topic today is to talk with Pastor 7 00:00:45.400 --> 00:00:47.600 Coppersmith about the power of prayer. 8 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.500 Welcome 9 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:51.400 Mike glad you could join us. 10 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:53.100 I hope you're well. 11 00:00:53.100 --> 00:00:56.500 I am well and it's great to be with you Dale. 12 00:00:56.500 --> 00:01:00.000 You've been a great supporter of the seminary in the friend to all of 13 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:05.600 us here for for many years now. Tell us about yourself and and where 14 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:06.400 your journey in life 15 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:07.600 has led you? 16 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:12.000 Well you know, I grew up in a military family. 17 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.200 My father was in the United States Navy. 18 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:20.000 So I lived in a lot of different places growing up, but I was so 19 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.700 blessed to wherever we lived 20 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:29.000 I was part of a Lutheran Community, Lutheran church and was greatly 21 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:35.400 enriched by my experiences with that. When I graduate from college, I 22 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:42.300 ended up teaching in a Lutheran School in Southern California, and 23 00:01:42.300 --> 00:01:43.900 that's where I met my wife Donna. 24 00:01:44.300 --> 00:01:50.300 And I went off to the Seminary and graduated from Concordia Seminary 25 00:01:50.300 --> 00:01:53.100 in 1980. 26 00:01:53.100 --> 00:01:58.800 And Donna and I are headed off to our first call for the Southern 27 00:01:58.800 --> 00:02:04.000 California boy was to Brainerd, Minnesota, Northern Minnesota. 28 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:09.600 And that was an initiation for me into cold weather, 29 00:02:09.600 --> 00:02:17.300 that's for sure. And we were called to a plant a church in the northern 30 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:21.300 Minnesota District, which we did and had just a wonderful experience 31 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:28.700 there and then I received a call to a Palm Springs, California to 32 00:02:28.700 --> 00:02:31.000 pastor at Our Saviors. 33 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:32.700 So that was a real switch. 34 00:02:32.700 --> 00:02:41.100 It doesn't snow in Palm Springs. No, it doesn't snow. And I ended up being in Palm Springs 35 00:02:41.100 --> 00:02:44.000 we were there for 31 years and I 36 00:02:44.300 --> 00:02:51.300 I retired in 2014 is the senior pastor there and moved to Georgetown, 37 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:51.700 Texas. 38 00:02:51.700 --> 00:02:57.200 Donna is a Texas girl a graduate of Concordia, Texas. 39 00:02:57.200 --> 00:03:05.700 And we she graciously lived in the area where I spent most of my 40 00:03:05.700 --> 00:03:07.500 childhood Southern California. 41 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:12.400 So it was her turn for us to spend time in her childhood area. 42 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.900 So we came to Texas and have been here since then, love it a lot. 43 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:22.800 That's great. Tell us about your time at the Seminary you mentioned that 44 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:23.600 you came to St. 45 00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:23.900 Louis. 46 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:30.200 What were those days like for you and for Donna? My time at the Seminary was really a 47 00:03:30.200 --> 00:03:32.000 transformational time for me. 48 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:35.700 When I look back at my life and Ministry and I think about 49 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:46.200 who I am and how I approach Ministry so much of that is really what I 50 00:03:46.200 --> 00:03:52.400 received in my a years at Concordia Seminary. You know, I received a 51 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.300 solid theological foundation, which I am very very grateful for 52 00:03:58.600 --> 00:04:01.500 but I was also blessed with some wonderful models. 53 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:05.600 I had some professors that you know, I looked at those men and 54 00:04:05.600 --> 00:04:10.800 I said I want to be like them and they were great models and examples 55 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:11.300 for me. 56 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:17.200 I had a tremendous fieldwork experience, which was very influential in 57 00:04:17.200 --> 00:04:20.300 my life and approach to Ministry. 58 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:26.000 I developed some lifelong friendships that you know, I cherish 59 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.300 greatly and I just know I wouldn't be who I am today without my time 60 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:33.000 at Concordia Seminary. And it's why I'm so 61 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:40.900 enthusiastic about what God is doing at Concordia Seminary these days 62 00:04:40.900 --> 00:04:49.400 and every time I'm on campus I can't help but to go back to my days there. 63 00:04:49.400 --> 00:04:53.500 But I also look forward to the future and it makes me wish I was in my 64 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:54.700 early twenties again. 65 00:04:54.700 --> 00:05:00.400 So I could ride the wave with those individuals that are prepared for 66 00:05:00.400 --> 00:05:12.100 Ministry cuz it's a lot of challenges and a lot of great opportunities to address that way. Excuse me for 67 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:13.000 interrupting. 68 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:14.700 I know the feeling. 69 00:05:14.700 --> 00:05:18.000 I wish I were younger but one of the things I think we ought to do 70 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.900 here on campus is take what you just said and share with the 71 00:05:21.900 --> 00:05:27.500 recruiters because that's a great invitation for a young 72 00:05:27.500 --> 00:05:31.900 person to consider work and life in in Ministry. 73 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.900 You're a man of prayer and that's what we want to talk about today. 74 00:05:36.900 --> 00:05:39.900 How would you define prayer? 75 00:05:41.900 --> 00:05:43.400 Well, you know 76 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:45.100 it's interesting 77 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:52.400 I spend a lot of time praying but I have a pretty fluid definition of 78 00:05:52.400 --> 00:05:53.300 prayer. 79 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:58.800 I don't think I have the a complete definition yet. 80 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:06.200 And I don't think I will probably till I stepped into to my home in 81 00:06:06.200 --> 00:06:11.600 heaven. But you know, I'd like to think of prayer as an intimate 82 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.500 conversation with God. 83 00:06:14.700 --> 00:06:19.700 That's some based on the Word of God and led by the Holy Spirit. 84 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:22.300 I think so much of Prayer, 85 00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:27.300 true prayer really flows out of a life of being in the Word. 86 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:33.600 And I think the more you're in the Word, I think the the more the 87 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:39.400 spirit of God working through the Word influences you and leads you and 88 00:06:39.400 --> 00:06:48.200 in praying and conversing with God. And my times in prayer are 89 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:54.900 at times where I'm just not putting in my you know 90 00:06:55.900 --> 00:07:00.600 order at the drive-thru at the fast food restaurant with God. 91 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:07.500 I really see there are these different dimensions to prayer praising 92 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:09.700 God, confessing our sins, 93 00:07:11.400 --> 00:07:18.300 expressing our gratitude and thanks to him setting out our needs 94 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:22.700 before him expressing the needs and desires of our heart to him. 95 00:07:23.700 --> 00:07:28.000 I think there's a listening to dimension to prayer 96 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.900 where you endeavor to 97 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:37.200 sense any impressions that the Holy Spirit might be putting upon 98 00:07:37.200 --> 00:07:41.500 your heart about what to pray for or who to pray for. 99 00:07:41.500 --> 00:07:49.400 So I really regarded as an intimate conversation with God. You know, 100 00:07:49.400 --> 00:07:53.900 you're more well spoken on prayer than I am. 101 00:07:53.900 --> 00:07:59.400 I certainly don't have a definition of prayer but one of the things 102 00:07:59.400 --> 00:08:05.200 that comes to my mind is the medieval monk brother Lawrence who wrote 103 00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:11.000 what is now known as a little book "The Practice of the Presence of 104 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:11.200 God." 105 00:08:11.200 --> 00:08:17.700 It seems to me that says God awareness at all times, God conversation 106 00:08:17.700 --> 00:08:18.300 at all times 107 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:23.000 you know, what's going on here Lord? Boy did I mess that up 108 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.200 and then so would you qualify that as as prayer? 109 00:08:27.700 --> 00:08:32.600 Yes, and you know, this is where I this is what I understand that 110 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:37.799 passage in scripture pray without ceasing to mean that it is this 111 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:42.799 running conversation with God throughout the day. 112 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:45.700 You know, I'm a 113 00:08:47.300 --> 00:08:49.700 I'm wired up in such a way where I do really 114 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:54.700 well with having a designated time of reading the scripture and 115 00:08:54.700 --> 00:08:58.000 praying and I'm a morning person in this really easy for me to do that 116 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:58.800 kind of thing. 117 00:08:58.800 --> 00:09:03.700 But to me, that's really just the beginning of the conversation and 118 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:08.500 that's a that's a great a book "Practicing the Presence of God." 119 00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:12.700 And that's another good definition of Prayer by part of you. 120 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:18.300 You mentioned you ask God for something and you don't get it. 121 00:09:18.300 --> 00:09:21.000 Okay, how should we process that? 122 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:24.700 Well 123 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:27.300 you know, I 124 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.900 I've learned and I learned in confirmation. 125 00:09:34.900 --> 00:09:40.600 I remember the pastor who taught me about prayer and Confirmation. 126 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:43.100 Said, you know sometimes God answers 127 00:09:43.100 --> 00:09:44.700 yes, sometimes God answers 128 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:48.000 no and sometimes God answers not yet or wait. 129 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:50.000 And 130 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:51.900 the 131 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:57.600 as I've grown in my life of prayer. 132 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:02.200 I believe I've grown in 133 00:10:03.300 --> 00:10:09.600 entering into prayer with the willingness to welcome and receive 134 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:15.900 all three of those answers and regard them as good answers from God. 135 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:23.600 Because God is good and he knows what is the right time and place for 136 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:23.800 everything. 137 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:26.600 So some of my 138 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:36.100 in a sense of my most influential and best answers to prayer I've ever 139 00:10:36.100 --> 00:10:38.400 received have been no from God. 140 00:10:39.400 --> 00:10:45.900 And I found as I've matured and gone through life and Ministry that 141 00:10:45.900 --> 00:10:51.000 I'm much more content with the noes than I used to be. Because I have 142 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:58.500 this wonderful scrapbook of memories of times when God said no and I 143 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:02.900 saw so much good from it. I think one of the toughest noes I ever 144 00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:10.500 received from God was for the healing of my infant son who died and 145 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:15.200 you know, I prayed and asked God to heal him and God answered no to 146 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:16.400 that prayer. 147 00:11:17.800 --> 00:11:23.000 And yet and that was 35 years ago. 148 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:32.500 And yet I see all the good that has come into my life has come into the 149 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:33.000 kingdom 150 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:42.600 through God answering no to my prayer that I know what he ordains 151 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:48.400 is always good. And it's one of my favorite hymns because of that so. 152 00:11:48.400 --> 00:11:54.300 That that's heart touching and I think that's a good time for us to 153 00:11:54.300 --> 00:12:01.100 take a short break so that I and our audience can just ponder that 154 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:06.500 prayer even when God says no is going to turn out to be a 155 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:11.900 long-term blessing from our heavenly Father who knows the best. So we will 156 00:12:11.900 --> 00:12:16.500 take a short break right now and stay with us will be back. 157 00:12:17.400 --> 00:12:19.000 Concordia Seminary St. 158 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.800 Louis provides continuing education resources for pastors and lay 159 00:12:23.800 --> 00:12:28.900 people to discover all the Concordia Seminary has for you visit us on 160 00:12:28.900 --> 00:12:31.400 the web at CSL. 161 00:12:31.400 --> 00:12:32.200 EDU. 162 00:12:34.700 --> 00:12:39.300 Welcome back to the Word and Work an Intersection. Our guest today is 163 00:12:39.300 --> 00:12:43.000 Pastor Michael Coppersmith and he's talking about prayer. 164 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:47.400 And before we took the break he talked about prayer in his life. 165 00:12:47.400 --> 00:12:51.300 He prayed that his child would be healed. 166 00:12:51.300 --> 00:12:53.400 It didn't turn out that way. 167 00:12:53.400 --> 00:12:56.900 But like you said 35 years later 168 00:12:56.900 --> 00:13:00.900 you have seen the blessing even though God said no. 169 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:01.900 Yes. 170 00:13:01.900 --> 00:13:03.300 Yes, absolutely. 171 00:13:03.300 --> 00:13:08.000 And I you know, I wouldn't have it any other way than his way. 172 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.100 I suspect that that 173 00:13:12.300 --> 00:13:18.100 terribly difficult situation is also enriched your ministry. 174 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:24.800 And especially how you urge people to be faithful in prayer in the tough 175 00:13:24.800 --> 00:13:25.300 times. 176 00:13:25.300 --> 00:13:25.900 Yes. 177 00:13:25.900 --> 00:13:26.900 Yes. 178 00:13:26.900 --> 00:13:29.300 It really has, you know, it's made me much more tender and sensitive 179 00:13:29.300 --> 00:13:37.000 to people in times of loss or crisis or disappointment and I think it 180 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:43.300 has led me to to persevere in prayer. 181 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:49.800 Because sometimes when God says no, it seems like a no 182 00:13:50.900 --> 00:13:58.800 but it's really I have a better plan and I'm going to unfold it for 183 00:13:58.800 --> 00:13:59.000 you. 184 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:07.100 And you know, I've I've learned that our tendency is to want to plan 185 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:08.500 and then pray. 186 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:13.900 And you know, we kind of develop our plans and then we say, okay God 187 00:14:13.900 --> 00:14:15.400 bless bless this plan 188 00:14:15.400 --> 00:14:23.500 we've developed. Instead of pray and then plan and 189 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:30.100 I've grown him in really endeavoring to do that to really seek to 190 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:34.600 hear from God in the planning process in to be prayerful about 191 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:39.000 that waiting upon Him persevering. There's another Pastor who 192 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:43.900 is retired in Texas and you and I and a lot of people know him Pastor 193 00:14:43.900 --> 00:14:47.900 Ken Klaus was speaker on the Lutheran Hour. And I always remember that 194 00:14:47.900 --> 00:14:52.200 when he talked about prayer he said exactly what you just said Pastor 195 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:52.800 Coppersmith. 196 00:14:52.800 --> 00:14:57.300 He said God will either say yes, or I'll do you some better. 197 00:14:57.300 --> 00:15:00.400 Yes. And that that's that 198 00:15:00.400 --> 00:15:01.800 that's a great way to look at it. 199 00:15:01.800 --> 00:15:04.300 I would presume that in your congregations 200 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:09.000 especially Palm Springs 31 years, 201 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.700 wow. that you were to develop a culture of prayer. 202 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:16.100 Could you talk about that and and and how you went about? 203 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:24.100 Will you know I had a time in my first year at the Seminary where I 204 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:29.700 really I kind of had a crisis time. And through that 205 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:35.300 I God showed me that I really needed to spend more time praying. 206 00:15:35.900 --> 00:15:42.100 And so I started to do that and I began to recognize that 207 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:50.700 prayer really occurs, when were dependent upon God. Prayerlessness 208 00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:54.400 occurs, when were dependent upon our self cuz we really just don't 209 00:15:54.400 --> 00:15:59.100 feel a need to ask God. Cry out to God, 210 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:01.900 rely upon him. And 211 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:09.500 I believe that God was preparing me at the Seminary for what I was 212 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:13.300 going to experience at the bulk of my Ministry. Because I spent 31 213 00:16:13.300 --> 00:16:17.200 years in Palm Springs and a lot of people think oh man Palm Springs 214 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.300 free and easy living when you're in Palm Springs a nice place to be. 215 00:16:21.300 --> 00:16:26.400 Palm Springs is a very challenging Community to minister in. It's very 216 00:16:26.400 --> 00:16:32.500 unchurched. Well under 10% of the population identifies with a church. 217 00:16:32.500 --> 00:16:40.900 Over 60% of the community is gay and lesbian. 218 00:16:40.900 --> 00:16:49.200 So there's a pretty high resistance level to institutional 219 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:55.000 Christianity and a lot of spiritual warfare issues going on in the 220 00:16:55.000 --> 00:17:00.600 community was a very challenging place to serve. And it became very 221 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:02.700 apparent to me early on and 222 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:12.500 my Ministry there that the only way I could really survive in that 223 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:17.000 Ministry context and the church could prosper would be if we would 224 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:24.900 genuinely be dependent upon God. And so we are really endeavored to be 225 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:31.200 a, in fact, we used the term a House of Prayer church. Where you know, we 226 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.800 took what what Jesus said about my house shall be a house of prayer. 227 00:17:34.800 --> 00:17:43.900 And we really prioritized prayer in our church's life and Ministry. 228 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:50.100 And the kind of things that we would do to prioritize prayer would be 229 00:17:52.100 --> 00:18:01.500 really integrate prayer into all of our ministry activities. You know, 230 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:04.700 I personally believe that there are three kinds of churches when it 231 00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:05.300 comes to prayer. 232 00:18:05.300 --> 00:18:09.700 There's prayerless churches and some churches are pretty prayerless 233 00:18:09.700 --> 00:18:10.600 surprisingly. 234 00:18:10.600 --> 00:18:14.200 Then there are what I call Prayer Ministry churches. 235 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:19.000 These are churches that they have lots of Ministries and one of their 236 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:25.000 Ministries is The Prayer Ministry. And the rest of the Ministries kind 237 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:30.100 of look at that Ministry and say they're doing our praying for us 238 00:18:30.100 --> 00:18:33.900 and isn't that great. And then there is what I call a House of Prayer 239 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:38.800 church, and that's where all the Ministries are bathed in prayer. 240 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:44.900 And so we really endeavored to mentor and teach people and 241 00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:50.100 committees and Ministry teams and Ministry activities to really 242 00:18:50.100 --> 00:19:00.600 integrate prayer into all of those activities. And that was a fun thing 243 00:19:00.600 --> 00:19:05.300 to see and you know, people began to grow genuinely and being 244 00:19:05.300 --> 00:19:12.200 comfortable praying aloud with one another. And early on in the 245 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:16.600 church it wasn't that way but, you know God led me to something that 246 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:23.800 really helped I think with the church becoming more prayerful. You 247 00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:26.800 know, as a pastor I did the typical thing after church you walk down 248 00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:30.600 the aisle you stand out in the narthex and you shake people's hands. 249 00:19:30.600 --> 00:19:35.000 I like what Howard Hendricks calls that the glorification of the worm 250 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.700 ceremony. Because you know people come out and they say to the pastor 251 00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:39.700 oh pastor you're such 252 00:19:39.700 --> 00:19:40.700 a wonderful preacher. 253 00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:45.000 Oh, thank you so much for that great message from God and you know, 254 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.800 you kind of get the feel goods and occasionally get a little snap, but 255 00:19:48.800 --> 00:19:53.900 I started to take that time and use it for something else. 256 00:19:53.900 --> 00:20:02.200 I started praying for people when they came through the line. And you 257 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:05.000 know, people would say a little something what was going on in their 258 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.600 life or if it was a first-time visitor that they were new to the 259 00:20:08.600 --> 00:20:10.800 community or they were looking for a church home. 260 00:20:10.800 --> 00:20:14.300 I would say pray for you for a moment and I pray for them. 261 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:21.300 And then I started to teach the church about the importance of not 262 00:20:21.300 --> 00:20:26.500 saying to people just say to people I'll pray for you when they pour 263 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:30.600 out their heart to you about something that's going on. Stopping 264 00:20:30.600 --> 00:20:31.700 instead and saying 265 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:37.100 let me pray for you right now and just take a moment and pray for 266 00:20:37.100 --> 00:20:37.200 them. 267 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:42.100 And so people started to do that and I tell you it was so neat on a 268 00:20:42.100 --> 00:20:47.600 Sunday morning after the years went by. Where not only would I be 269 00:20:47.600 --> 00:20:51.000 praying in line, but I could turn around and look out into our outdoor 270 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:55.200 courtyard where people would be standing and visiting and you'd see a 271 00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:01.400 lot of people with their hand on someone's shoulder just praying for 272 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:07.900 them. And it was it was just a wonderful thing to just see happen. On 273 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:08.500 the negative side 274 00:21:10.300 --> 00:21:15.400 I'm reminded of a church meeting probably several Church meetings. 275 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:17.500 When did chairman called the meeting to order. 276 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:23.200 He asked me the pastor to say a prayer and when I finished he said now we 277 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:34.900 will get onto the business. Prayer is the business of the church. Would you tell us just briefly since 278 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:39.700 this is a Concordia Seminary program about the Prayer Warriors that 279 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:41.200 you lead for our Seminary. 280 00:21:42.800 --> 00:21:44.000 You bet the 281 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:52.200 Prayer Warriors Ministry really flowed out of the Generations Campaign 282 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:56.600 early on where there was a gathering of the donors and leaders. And it 283 00:21:56.600 --> 00:21:57.600 became clear to us that 284 00:22:00.300 --> 00:22:11.700 God was really calling us to intercessory prayer for the Seminary. And 285 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:17.600 flowing out of that a number of those individuals that we're at that 286 00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:20.400 gathering said I'd like to be part of that. 287 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:22.900 I'd like to a be a prayer Warrior. 288 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:27.700 So we started the Prayer Warrior Ministry and we sent out a Prayer 289 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:33.800 Warrior update every two months that is like a prayer guide for the 290 00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:37.000 Seminary lets people know what's happened in the past few months that 291 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.600 we can thank God for and what's ahead that 292 00:22:39.600 --> 00:22:43.300 We want to be praying daily for. It has a prayer calendar and some 293 00:22:43.300 --> 00:22:47.900 scriptures and people make use of that. 294 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:54.700 And I'm very passionate about providing intercessory prayer. 295 00:22:55.700 --> 00:23:04.100 To keep people and places where God is moving and working and there is 296 00:23:04.100 --> 00:23:11.400 Kingdom Ministry being done. Something that I've had in my life for 297 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:15.400 many many years and in the church that I pastored. 298 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:21.000 I asked all of our staff people to have that was what we called a pit 299 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:29.600 crew, pit, a personal intercessory team. And I've always had a number of 300 00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:37.100 people that have agreed to pray for me on a daily basis. 301 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:41.500 And every two to three weeks 302 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:47.300 I send out a PIT crew update to them where I let them know what's 303 00:23:47.300 --> 00:23:52.200 going on in my life and Ministry. Where my joys, where my challenges are. 304 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:58.400 I give them a copy of kind of my calendar for the next two to 305 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.700 three weeks and I ask them to be providing prayer support for me. 306 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:08.900 And what I ask of them is that they'll pray daily that they keep 307 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:15.900 everything I share with them in confidence. And that that they agree to 308 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:19.200 serve for a year and at the end of the year, I give him an opportunity 309 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:28.300 to re-up for another year or to say, okay I've done it and I'm not going to do it again. And I have found that that 310 00:24:28.300 --> 00:24:33.300 is made such a profound difference in my life and Ministry. And in a 311 00:24:33.300 --> 00:24:37.300 sense you could say that the Prayer Warriors Ministry 312 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:43.300 is the PIT crew Ministry, the personal intercessory team Ministry, for 313 00:24:43.300 --> 00:24:50.400 Concordia Seminary, for the leadership, the faculty, the overall seminary 314 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:57.500 community and I'm absolutely convinced that God is using 315 00:24:57.500 --> 00:25:02.100 intercessory prayer in a very significant way in the history of 316 00:25:02.100 --> 00:25:06.300 Concordia Seminary right now. We have certainly been blessed in 317 00:25:06.300 --> 00:25:10.700 many ways and not the least is by the Prayer Warrior updates that you 318 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:11.300 send out. 319 00:25:11.300 --> 00:25:16.200 How can somebody in our audience be included in the Prayer Warrior 320 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:16.800 updates? 321 00:25:17.600 --> 00:25:18.900 It's very easy. 322 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:25.600 If you just send an email to me with your email address, I will add 323 00:25:25.600 --> 00:25:33.300 you to the Prayer Warrior update list and my email address is 324 00:25:33.300 --> 00:25:35.700 coppersmith. 325 00:25:35.700 --> 00:25:39.400 mike at gmail.com (coppersmith.mike@gmail.com) coppersmith. 326 00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:40.800 Mike at gmail.com. 327 00:25:40.800 --> 00:25:42.600 That's great. 328 00:25:42.600 --> 00:25:46.700 This has been a very practical conversation pastor 329 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:48.200 and I and I thank you for it. 330 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:53.600 One of the things that that I would take away from this if if I were 331 00:25:53.600 --> 00:25:55.000 parish pastor 332 00:25:56.300 --> 00:26:02.300 listening or watching would the PIT crew, you know, we could do that. 333 00:26:02.300 --> 00:26:04.000 And I rather suspect that 334 00:26:05.800 --> 00:26:11.500 made the people who participated little more verbal and and open 335 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.900 with sharing their faith with other people in and outside the church is 336 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:17.300 that true? Absolutely. 337 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:24.500 You know, we we discovered that prayer is a really integral element 338 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:32.800 to have the Great Commission task. And I think it really starts with us 339 00:26:32.800 --> 00:26:37.800 praying for lost people. Looking around in our sphere of relationships 340 00:26:37.800 --> 00:26:43.300 and say our neighbors are friends the same who don't know Jesus and 341 00:26:43.300 --> 00:26:45.000 start to pray for them. 342 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:51.400 We did something at Our Saviors where we actually put on a Prayer wall 343 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:57.100 up where we had a painting of a lighthouse cuz we talked about being 344 00:26:57.100 --> 00:27:00.900 lighthouses for the Lord by praying for the lost. 345 00:27:00.900 --> 00:27:05.500 And as you pray for the lost God will give you opportunities. He will open 346 00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:08.300 up opportunities for you to care for the lost. 347 00:27:08.300 --> 00:27:13.700 And so you pray for a person a neighbor sooner or later and I've seen 348 00:27:13.700 --> 00:27:16.200 this time and time again God opens up the door. 349 00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:19.700 For that person to have a need in their life. 350 00:27:20.800 --> 00:27:27.600 And if you extend that care to them carrying provides credibility. 351 00:27:28.800 --> 00:27:33.700 And sooner or later they're going to ask you to give account for 352 00:27:33.700 --> 00:27:36.900 the hope that is within you and share. 353 00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:42.400 So we put up a wall in the church and we would on a regular basis as 354 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:46.200 part of our ministry year. 355 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:50.200 We would give people an opportunity to go to the wall would call it 356 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:54.900 and they walk up to the wall and they would write down the first names 357 00:27:54.900 --> 00:28:00.400 of people that they are praying for the don't know Jesus that they 358 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:05.800 might come to know Christ and and that would be their commitment to 359 00:28:05.800 --> 00:28:10.400 pray daily for that person. And overtime 360 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:16.500 it was just a wonderful thing to see people come to Christ by praying, 361 00:28:16.500 --> 00:28:22.600 starting with praying, caring and sharing and I remember the precious 362 00:28:22.600 --> 00:28:28.100 moments when you would see somebody after church walk up someone that 363 00:28:28.100 --> 00:28:28.600 they had brought. 364 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:31.700 Church and walk them up to the wall and point them to their name and say 365 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:34.400 I've been praying for you 366 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:38.400 and for this day. It was just a wonderful thing. 367 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:43.600 So prayer really does have a part to play in the Great Commission and 368 00:28:43.600 --> 00:28:48.200 I found as people were praying for me and they saw that I valued 369 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:49.700 prayer in that way. 370 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:55.400 I found it it motivated them to integrate prayer into every aspect of 371 00:28:55.400 --> 00:29:00.600 their life including reaching out to people who need to know Christ. 372 00:29:00.600 --> 00:29:08.000 You given us a lot of practical use of information to help pastors 373 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:13.600 and other in the in the work of ministry, but more than that just 374 00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:14.700 speaking personally. 375 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:18.200 Hearing you talk about prayer is edifying. 376 00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:23.000 It personally helps me, and I know that what you've shared personally 377 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:24.700 helps our audience. 378 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:28.900 Could you please wrap up to the program with a prayer? 379 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:31.000 I'd be happy to do that. 380 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:32.300 Thank you Pastor. 381 00:29:35.400 --> 00:29:36.100 Heavenly Father 382 00:29:36.100 --> 00:29:44.500 I am so grateful for the Salvation that we have when your Son Jesus 383 00:29:44.500 --> 00:29:44.900 Christ. 384 00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:49.300 Thank you for the grace in which we stand each day. 385 00:29:49.300 --> 00:29:58.500 Thank you for the gift of being able to pray for people and to know 386 00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:02.400 that we are being prayed for. Lord 387 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:06.900 I thank you for the lessons that you have taught me about prayer in my 388 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:07.700 life journey. 389 00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:13.900 And I think Lord of that season in my life 390 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:17.700 at Concordia Seminary where you taught me so much about the 391 00:30:17.700 --> 00:30:21.400 importance of depending upon you. 392 00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:32.100 And I thank you get from that came a life of prayer and I thank you 393 00:30:32.100 --> 00:30:34.900 Father that I'm still learning from you. 394 00:30:34.900 --> 00:30:38.900 Thank you for your faithfulness and continuing to grow me in my life 395 00:30:38.900 --> 00:30:40.800 of prayer. And Lord 396 00:30:40.800 --> 00:30:44.600 I want to pray for them all those who hear this 397 00:30:47.600 --> 00:30:54.600 broadcast that they'd to Lord would sense you're leading in their 398 00:30:54.600 --> 00:30:55.000 life. 399 00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:00.100 I ask God that the things that we talked about today things that 400 00:31:00.100 --> 00:31:05.300 they've received in their life journey that you would just integrate that 401 00:31:05.300 --> 00:31:12.700 into a growing life of prayer. And I do pray Lord that you would 402 00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:18.700 nudge some individuals who really need people to be praying for them 403 00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:23.400 and whose interceptors need to know what's going on in their life so 404 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:24.900 they can be praying for them. 405 00:31:24.900 --> 00:31:29.600 It would be a wonderful thing Lord of some individuals would say I'm 406 00:31:29.600 --> 00:31:34.600 going to get a PIT crew and would receive that kind of support. 407 00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:36.600 And Lord, thank you. 408 00:31:36.600 --> 00:31:37.200 Thank you. 409 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:42.700 Thank you for the privilege of being able to be on the PIT crew for 410 00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:48.600 Concordia Seminary and I keep us a joyful in Hope patient in 411 00:31:48.600 --> 00:31:51.600 Affliction and faithful in prayer. 412 00:31:51.600 --> 00:31:57.000 And we thank you for all that you have in store for your glory and for 413 00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:59.300 the Salvation of many in Jesus name we pray. 414 00:31:59.300 --> 00:31:59.800 Amen. 415 00:31:59.800 --> 00:32:00.900 Amen. 416 00:32:00.900 --> 00:32:08.800 Thank you Pastor Coppersmith that prayer and you're helping me grow in 417 00:32:08.800 --> 00:32:12.500 my faith and encouragement to my own prayer life. 418 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:17.700 Thanks to you who have joined us for today's edition of Word and Work 419 00:32:17.700 --> 00:32:22.000 an Intersection. And I pray that that intersection of Word and Work 420 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:25.900 will be busy and be a blessing on your corner.